IMPORTANT WEBSITES - The top sites are most relevant to the Birth to 8 contexts

 

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  Belonging, being and Becoming - The Early Years learning Framework for Australia
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  Queensland Curriculum Learning Guideline
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  Early Childhood Australia

  Attached Files:

  •  ECA Code of Ethics pdf (362.651 KB)

  Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years.
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  Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority [ACECQA]

  ACECQA is an independent national authority based in Sydney. One of their roles is to educate and inform the community about the importance of improving outcomes in children's education and care. They also provide government, the sector and families with access to current research to ensure National quality framework [NQF] policy and service delivery is in line with best practice. ACECQA guides the implementation of the NQF for early childhood education and care nationally to ensure consistency in delivery. Follow this link to receive their newsletter.  
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  Early Childhood Teachers Association (ECTA)

  ECTA Inc., the Early Childhood Teachers Association comprises Queensland registered teachers and others interested in the work of early childhood professionals committed to promoting early childhood education philosophy and the ongoing development of quality care and education for young children.
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  Information on ECTA

  Attached Files:

  •  ECTA.ppt (765 KB)

   Here is some information on membership to the Early Childhood Teacher's Association (ECTA). Highly recommended!
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  C&K Preschooling Professionals

  Established in 1907, C&K is proud to be the largest and longest established provider of community based early childhood education and care services in Queensland.

   
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  Creche and Kindergarten- Building Waterfalls
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  AITSL

  The Australian institute for teaching and school leadership. This also provide links to the new National Standards for teachers which will be implemented from 2013.
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  Education Queensland

  The Department of Education, Training and Employment website.
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  Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority

  The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is responsible for developing the National Curriculum from kindergarten to Year 12 in specific learning areas.
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  Australian Curriculum

  The Australian Curriculum sets the expectations for what all Australian students should be taught, regardless of where they live or their background. For Foundation -10, it means that students now have access to the same content, and their achievements can be judged against consistent national standards.
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  Queensland College of Teachers

  The College was established by the Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005, as an independent professional body representing all members of the Queensland teaching profession and commenced operations on 1 January 2006.
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  Productive Pedagogies

  Productive Pedagogies form part of the Education Queensland Department’s New Basics project.
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  EQ's Essential Skills for Classroom Management

  A site for those interested in knowing what Education Queensland offers to assist teachers with classroom management.  The strategies on this site may be implemented at your school during your field experience.
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  Montessori Education

  Montessori Australia site - The Montessori approach aims to foster children's love of learning and encourages independence by providing an environment of activities and materials which children use at their own pace
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  Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority [QCAA]

  The QCAA develops and revises syllabuses and guidelines for the Kindergarten Year to Year 12 and accredits syllabuses and guideline prepared outside of the QCAA. It also offers services and resources to help teachers implement QCAA syllabuses.
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  Queensland Catholic Education Commission
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  Independent Schools Queensland

  An independent school is a non-government school that is governed, managed and accountable at the level of the individual school.
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  Anglican Schools Commission

  Queensland Anglican schools are committed to achieving outstanding standards of education for young Queenslanders.
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  Steiner Schools

  Steiner schools have a unique and distinctive approach to educating children, aiming to enable each stage of growth to be fully and vividly enjoyed and experienced.
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  Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian
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  Raising Children Network

  Very practical Australian parenting website funded by the Australian Government. The team of expert advisors includes QUT staff, in particular Dr Donna Berthelsen and Dr Marilyn Campbell from our Faculty.

Books for children aged 0-5

There are many great books for children aged 0-5 available from one of Queensland's more than 300 local libraries. Search for your local library .

Books your local librarian recommends may include those on the following list:

Suggested booklist

Title	Author
ABC	McDonnel, Fiona
All about me	McKinnon, Debbie
Baby bilby where do you sleep?	Oliver, Narelle
Baby bird's blankie	Wild, Margaret
Baby wombat's week	French, Jackie
Belinda	Allen, Pamela
Bertie and the bear	Allen, Pamela
Big red hen and the little lost egg	Wild, Margaret
Boo to a goose	Fox, Mem
Brown bear, brown bear what do you see	Martin Jr, Bill and Carle, Eric
(The) cat in the hat	Dr Seuss
Cows in the kitchen	Crebbin, June and McEwen, Katharine
Crocodile boat	Jorgensen, Gail and Mullins, Patricia
Dear Zoo	Campbell, Rod
Early learning big book of Australian nature	Parish, Steve
Fuzzy bee and friends	Priddy, Roger
Going shopping	Garland, Sarah
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy	Dodd, Lynley
Here come Poppy and Max	Gardiner, Lindsey
Hug	Alborough, Jez
I went walking	Machin, Sue and Vivas, Julie
Kiss kiss	Wild, Margaret
Let's get a pup	Graham, Bob
(The) little yellow digger	Gilderdale, Betty and Alan
Maisie's bedtime	Cousins, Lucy
Old MacDonald had a barn	Gublis, Stephen
On your potty!	Miller, Virginia
Owl babies	Waddell, Martin and Benson, Patrick
Possum magic	Fox, Mem
Rosie's walk	Hutchins, Pat
Shhh! Little mouse	Allen, Pamela
Spot goes on holiday	Hill, Eric
Ten in the bed	Dale, Penny
That's not my teddy	Watt, Fiona and Wells, Rachel
Time for bed	Fox, Mem and Dyer, Jane
Toddlerobics animal fun	Newcombe, Zita
dePaola, Tomie	Tomie's baa baa black sheep and other rhymes
(The) very hungry caterpillar	Carle, Eric
We're going on a bear hunt	Rosen, Michael and Oxenbury, Helen
What colour are your knickers?	Llyod, Sam
(The) wheels on the bus	Dan, Penny
Where is the green sheep?	Fox, Mem
Where the wild things are	Sendak, Maurice
Where's my teddy?	Alborough, Jez
(The) wide-mouthed frog	Faulkner, Keith and Lambert, Jonathan
Who sank the boat?	Allen, Pamela
Whose tail?	Rowe, Jeannette
Wombat diary	French, Jackie
Yo Yo goes to the beach	Rowe, Jeannette
Za-za's baby brother	Cousins, Lucy

http://deta.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/families/suggested-booklists.html

NQS PLP e-Newsletter Link

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/nqsplp/e-newsletters/

13 Children’s Books That Encourage Kindness Towards Others

 http://www.buzzfeed.com/emeynardie/13-childrens-books-that-encourage-kindness-toward-26paw

1. We All Sing With The Same Voice by J. Philip Miller and Sheppard M. Greene

What It’s About: This is a song book that connects kids around the world. The verses highlight differences between kids, illustrated on the pages of the book. The chorus brings all of these kids with many differences together, singing “We all sing with the same voice. The same song. The same voice. We all sing with the same voice and we sing in harmony.”

Why It’s Important: Not only will the music engage kids as young as three, but it also encourages global awareness and connection at a young age. Everyone is different and unique, and this book celebrates those differences while singing together as friends.

2. Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide To Daily Happiness For Kids by Carol McCloud

What It’s About: This book introduces an idea that everyone has an “invisible bucket.” These buckets are used to hold your good thoughts and feelings about yourself. When you do something kind, you help fill someone else’s bucket.

Why It’s Important: This provides kids with a visual representation of the importance of kindness. It focuses on social interactions and how our actions positively or negatively affect other people. This book would be especially beneficial as kids begin to develop empathy towards others.

3. A Sick Day For Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead

What It’s About: This story is about a zookeeper who is great friends with all of the animals and takes the time out of his day to do what they like with them. One day, he is too sick to go to work and the animals decide to come and visit him.

Why It’s Important: This sweet story shows how kind actions towards others are repaid. The animals all take care of Amos when he needs a friend, which shows children how important continual kindness towards others is.

4. Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

What It’s About: This story is about a new girl at school, named Maya and how Chloe, who has gone to the school for a while, reacts when she arrives. Chloe is not welcoming towards Maya, and excludes her from the group games. Maya leaves and Chloe is left feeling full of regret.

Why It’s Important: This story does not have the happy ending that so many books do, but teaches a critical lesson. Every choice we makes affects others in either a positive or negative way, and we do not always have an opportunity to fix our negative actions.

5. Last Stop On Market Street by Matt de la Pena

What It’s About: This 2016 winner of the Newbery Medal follows a young boy, CJ, and his grandmother on their way home one day. CJ spends most of the journey asking “How come…?” questions about everyone and everything. His grandmother answers each question with patience and eventually they leave the bus to volunteer at a soup kitchen.

Why It’s Important: CJ is asking seemingly simple questions throughout the book, but his grandmother’s responses always elicit empathy towards the other characters throughout the book. It serves as a reminder that everyone we encounter has skills and a story, but we must be kind and open-hearted in order to hear it.

6. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

What It’s About: In this book, we see a young boy dreaming about getting a pair of really cool shoes. Unfortunately, his family does not have the money for this dream to become a reality. He eventually finds the shoes in a thrift shop in near perfect condition and buys them even though they are too tight. Another kid in his class can’t afford new shoes either, and his feet would fit in the cool shoes when the narrator’s would not. So, the narrator decides to give his shoes away.

Why It’s Important: This book highlights the importance of giving and making difficult decisions. We see the narrator struggle to decide if he can really give his shoes away, but when he decides to, both he and the boy who receive his shoes end up happier than they were before.

7. Horton Hears A Who by Dr. Seuss

What It’s About: A classic Dr. Seuss, this book is about an elephant who discovers an entire community living on a speck of dust. With his big ears, Horton is the only animal in the jungle who is able to hear the Whos. Despite being made fun of by the other animals, Horton stands by Whoville because he knows it is the right thing to do.

Why It’s Important: Not only is Horton doing the right thing, he is doing the right thing while everyone around him is bullying him to give up. This teaches an important lesson about standing by what you believe in, no matter what you face. With older children, you can also use this book to discuss the importance of advocating for those who do not have a voice

8. Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

What It’s About: This is about a boy who is having a great summer until Jeremy Ross moves in down the street. Jeremy excludes people from birthday parties and laughs when they strike out in baseball. The narrator’s father makes enemy pie to help defeat Jeremy Ross. In order for enemy pie to work, the boys have to play together all day. By the end of the day they are good friends and enjoy the pie together.

Why It’s Important: This tells a classic story of judging a book by its cover, or making judgements about people based on insignificant details. After spending quality time together the two enemies learned that they actually got along quite well.

9. Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson, Fumi Kosaka

What It’s About: This story is about an average girl who decides to pick some blueberries for her neighbor. The neighbor bakes blueberry muffins and gives plates of them to five other people. This good deed turns into a chain strangers doing kind things for other strangers. Eventually, Mary has someone do something nice for her whose kind actions can be traced back to Mary’s blueberry picking.

Why It’s Important: This is another book that shows the important your actions can have on others, but it also shows the ways your actions can ripple out to affect total strangers.

10. The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

What It’s About: This sweet book tells the story of Brian, a quiet boy who never makes a fuss or much noise at all. He feels invisible compared to the other children who are the center of the teacher’s attention by being loud, or the children with lots of friends who get picked first for sports. When a new kid comes to school, he makes Brian feel a lot less invisible.

Why It’s Important: All kids are different. Some are outgoing and some are quiet. This book celebrates those differences while teaching the importance of welcoming all types of kids to play and participate.

11. The Three Questions by Jon J Muth

What It’s About: This book is about a boy named Nikolai who wants to be a good person, but is not always sure how. He wants to discover the answer to the three questions: When is the best time to do things? Who is the most important one? What is the right thing to do? His three animal friends help him answer these questions, but they all have slightly different approaches. He eventually learns that the right time is now, the important one is the one you are with, and the right thing to do is good.

Why It’s Important: This book takes a more conceptual approach to helping others, but would serve as an extremely useful tool for starting a discussion with older children about why kindness is an important character trait.

12. Rude Cakes by Rowboat Watkins

What It’s About: This book is about a cake, who is, very rude. He never says please or thank you, never listens, and doesn’t share well. One day a giant cyclops takes the rude cake and wears him as a hat. The cyclops has great manners, but the cake hates being a hat. After finally getting away from the cyclops, the cake becomes much more polite.

Why It’s Important: Although this book is quite out there, it teaches how far good manners and behavior can go toward getting what you want.

13. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

What It’s About: A familiar book to many, this book tells the heartfelt story of a boy and a tree who loved each other very much, but the boy ends up taking parts of the tree until the tree is worn down into a stump. At the end of the book, the boy (now an old man) just needs a place to sit, so he and the stump sit together.

Why It’s Important: This book shows the continual generosity and kindness of the tree, and how much the actions of the boy affected the tree. It can be used to teach children that kindness is important, but you should never give up so much that you suffer. You can also use it to teach give and take, the importance of a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship.